Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – Etihad Airways Inflight Chef, Sanjay Thakur, has broken the world record for creating and serving dinner to guests at the highest pop-up restaurant in the world, located at Everest Advanced High Camp.

Accompanied
by fellow chef Soundararajan Palaniappan, Mr. Thakur completed the grueling
mission earlier this month, reaching the high camp and serving the meal at an
altitude of 5,585 metres above sea level.

Mr. Thakur’s record-breaking achievements were
celebrated at Etihad’s headquarters recently with a special ceremony attended
by Etihad senior management and staff.

Commenting at the event, Tony Douglas, Group
Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group, said:
“Sanjay exhibits the
true Etihad spirit and we are thrilled to welcome him back home and
congratulate him whole-heartedly for this epic achievement. We are all very
proud of him.”

The
world record-holding chefs prepared for months to make the attempt, including
acclimatisation and fitness training, and complex logistics to ensure they had
the permit, gear and transportation they needed to prepare the meal and welcome
guests.

“Coming
from the Himalayas, I’ve grown up in awe of these mountains and it has been a
huge personal achievement to combine my love of food and cooking with a
remarkable project to promote sustainability and to help protect this unique
part of the world,” adds Mr. Thakur.

In
addition to breaking a world record, the goal of the challenge was to raise
awareness of sustainability in the region, with all proceeds being donated to
Altruistic Hands, a Nepal-based charity.

The
meal itself included ingredients collected from the alpine environment around
them on the mountains. Staying true to the theme of sustainability, the team
used solar energy to cook the meal, served on lava rock plates.